Nestable cup



Sept. 28, 1965 B. EDWARDS 3,203,631

NESTABLE CUP Original Filed Oct. 29, 1958 INVENTOR EymZJZa/amb 3AM, 77Wwzawmd/ United States PatentO 3,208,631 NESTABLE CUP Bryant Edwards,Clarendon Hills, Ill., assignor to Illinois Tool Works Inc., Chicago,Ill., a corporation of Delaware Continuation of application Ser. No.244,321, Dec. 13, 1962, which is a division of application Ser. No.769,057, Oct. 29, 1958, now Patent No. 3,091,360, dated May 28, 1963.Divided and this application May 21, 1964, Ser. No. 370,398

2 Claims. (Cl. 220-97) The present application comprises a continuationof my co-pending application Serial No. 244,321, filed December 13,1962, now abandoned, which was a division of my then eo-pendingapplication Serial No. 769,057, filed October 29, 1958, now Patent No.3,091,360, the latter being a continuation-in-part of my then co-pendingapplication Serial No. 699,678, filed November 29, 1957, now Patent No.2,905,350; all entitled Nestable Cup.

This invention is concerned with the art of beverage containers, andmost particularly with a cup of the expendable or throw-away variety.

As is well known, there are expendable cups made of impregnated paper,and even some of plastic. Such cups are used on picnics and the like,and are widely used in beverage vending machines, such as coffeemachines and soft drink machines. As will be appreciated, economy ofstorage space dictates that a plurality of cups, in a vending machine,for example, must be stored in a tubular magazine with the cupstelescoped within one another. When a beverage is to be dispensed, thebottom cup is dropped from the stack in the magazine into position toreceive the beverage.

In the past, it has often been found that the bottom cup would not dropsatisfactorily. It has been quite easy for the cups to become wedgedtogether to the extent that the rather light weight of the bottom cup isinsuflicient to cause it to drop from the stack. Furthermore, the cupshave necessarily hugged one another tightly, and the introduction of airbetween the bottom cup and the next adjacent cup has accordingly beenslow, whereby air pressure tends to hold the bottom cup on the bottom ofthe stack. As a result, the bottom cup drops too slowly, or not at all.

Accordingly, it is an object of this invention to provide a cup,particularly a throw-away cup, which is so configured that a pluralityof such cups can be stacked in telescopic relation without wedgingtogether.

It is an object of this invention to provide a thin-wall plastic cuphaving means providing a protuberant ring in the sidewall of the cupengageable with the upper rim of a subjacent cup for stacking aplurality of such cups in nested relation.

It is a further object of this invention to provide a thinwall plasticcup having a stacking ring in the form of a plurality ofcircumferentially spaced nibs engageable with the rim of a subjacent cupin telescoped, stacked relation therewith, the spacing between the nibsproviding air passages to insure against the cups being held together byair pressure.

It is a further object of this invention to provide a thin-wall plasticcup as set forth above wherein the means engageable with the rim of asubjacent cup forms a camming engagement therewith, the cammingengagement and the inherent resiliency of the plastic material affordingaxial resiliency to a stack of such cups, whereby to avoid splittingopen of a paper box or carton when a stack of such cups in such a cartonis dropped.

Other and further objects and advantages of the present invention willbe apparent from the following de scription when taken in connectionwith accompanying drawings wherein:

FIG. 1 is a side view of a cup constructed in accordance with theprinciples of this invention; and

FIG. 2 is a fragmentary axial sectional view on an enlarged scaleshowing a pair of the cups of FIG. 1 stacked together in telescopedrelation.

The cup as hereinafter described in detail is made of plastic,preferably of high impact polystyrene. Such cups have marked advantagesover paper cups which have been impregnated or coated with wax. Theypresent a better feel and taste to the lips, they do not become soggy inuse, and they form a substantially perfect vapor barrier so that nomoisture condenses on a cool table beneath a cup when the cup containshot coffee or the like.

The cup is molded or formed from sheet plastic material and isdesignated generally by the numeral 10. The cup comprises a preferablyindented bottom 12 merging at a relatively sharp angled bottom corner 14with a sidewall 16 integral therewith. The sidewall 16 is frusto-conicalin configuration, tapering out from a minimum diameter at the bottomcorner 14 to an open upper end 18 defined by a rolled-over rim 20 Thesidewall is shown as being of smooth, uniform taper. However, it will beunderstood that the sidewall could have a finger gripping ring sectiontherein as disclosed and claimed in my Patent 2,905,350.

Adjacent the top or open upper end, and spaced downwards a relativelyshort distance therefrom, there is provided an annular series ofcircumferentially spaced nibs 22. The nibs are arcuately spaced apart asindicated at 24. The nibs are more or less symmetrical about ahorizontal plane, being tapered on the top as indicated at 26, and onthe bottom as indicated at 28. The lateral walls 30 of the nibsconveniently are substantially perpendicular to the adjacent portions ofthe sidewall 16.

The particular symmetry just described is not necessarily essential. Theimportant thing is that the bottom or under portions of the nibs aretapered outwardly at an angle greater than the taper of the sidewall 16.The under portions 28 of the nibs 22 of any given cup engage against therolled rim 20 over a corresponding subjacent cup, the engagement, asreadily seen in FIG. 2, being a camming engagement. The nibs bend theengaged portions of the outer cups outwardly, and conversely cause theinner cups to deflect inwardly in the vicinity of the nibs. There willobviously be a certain amount of deformation in the arcuate areasbetween the nib engagement, and in particular, an outer cup will pulltoward a chordal position between the positions of engagement.

It will be understood that the camming action combined with the inherentresiliency of the plastic imparts a spring action resulting in aresilient stack of cups. It will be understood that a rigid stack ofcups is likely to split a shipping container of paesteboard or the like,if the cups are dropped. Furthermore, the resiliency saves wear and tearon the vending machine in which the cups might be used.

The cup as shown herein is preferably made from sheet plastic stock.Thus, the protuberances are of concaveconvex nature in order that theymight be formed integral with the sidewall of the cup and remain ofsubstantially the same thickness as the remainder of the sidewall. Theprotuberances must not be allowed to collapse or deform too far in theconcave direction under load, and it will be apparent that theprotuberance tapered surfaces which do not engage an adjacent cup edgeprovides a strutting action coacting with the engaging surfaces of theprotuberances to prevent such collapse. As noted heretofore, exact axialsymmetry of the protuberances is not essential, but substantial axialsymmetry is one desired feature of the invention.

The rolled upper rim of the cup is important from several aspects. Inthe preferred embodiment it provides the oblique surface generallycomplementary to the protuberance oblique surfaces for cammingengagement therewith. However, it may be noted that although this is thepreferred or illustrative embodiment, a reversal of parts is not to beruled out. Secondly, the rolled rim is important in separating cupsone-by-one from a stack of telescoped cups, as in a vending machine. Astraight-up edge in such a thin-wall cup as herein disclosed would giveno surface for engagement by a cup separating mechanism as in a vendingmachine. Such a straight-up edge also would be structurally weak andcould cut the lip of one drinking therefrom.

Furthermore, although a certain amount of deformation of the cup edge bythe protuberances may be desirable, there must be radial reinforcementthereof to prevent undue flexing that could allow the protuberancescompletely to pass the edge, whereupon the cups would jam together. Suchundue deformation is further avoided by controlling the spacing betweenprotuberances. Thus, as in the preferred example illustated, there is atleast a portion of a protuberance for not over substantially everythirty degrees of arc circumferentially of the cup.

It is to be understood that the specific example of the inventionheretofore shown and described is for illustratiVe purposes only.Various changes in structure will be apparent to those skilled in theart, and will be understood as forming a part of the present inventioninsofar as they fall within the spirit and scope of the appended claims.

The invention is claimed as follows:

1. A thin-wall plastic cup of integral one-piece construction and of asize adapted to be grasped and lifted readily in one hand, comprising abottom, and a sidewall tapering upwardly and outwardly therefrom to anopen upper end with a rolled over rim, said sidewall being substantiallysymmetrical about the longitudinal axis of said cup and integrallyjoined to said bottom at a bottom edge and having a top edge, said cupbeing provided with a circumferentially extending abutment surface atone of its edges, and a series of integral protuberances arranged incircumferential array in the vicinity of said abutment surface, each ofsaid protuberances being in the form of a pair of converging, oppositelydisposed, and circumferentially spaced thin wall sections formed fromthe cup sidewall, each of said wall sections being angularly disposed inrespect to the cup sidewall and with the circumferential extremities ofeach of said thin wall sections being joined by end wall sections formedfrom the cup sidewall, the convergence of said sections presenting a V-shaped configuration terminating in a relatively discrete apexprojecting radially from said sidewall and all of said apices beinglocated in circumferential array substantially within a common planeperpendicular to the longitudinal axis of the cup, the upper and lowerbounding surfaces of said protuberances diverging from said commonplane, the said abutment surface of the cup and said divergingprotuberance surfaces of the cup being radially overlapping whereby theabutment surface of one cup cammingly engages the adjacent boundingsurface of each protuberance of a like adjacent cup telescopedtherewith, the camming engagement and the inherent resiliency of the cupmaterial providing a resilient resistance to prevent jamming together oftelescoped cups and providing axial resilience to a stack of telescopedcups.

2. A thin-wall plastic cup as set forth in claim 1 wherein the spacedprotuberances project radially outwardly from the cup sidewall and arelocated in the vicinity of the upper rolled over rim providing saidabutment surface.

References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,010,320 11/11Ruehs.

2,563,352 8/51 Morse.

2,879,917 3/59 Flack 220--97 2,932,437 4/60 Wilcox 22097 FOREIGN PATENTS1,044,009 11/53 France.

THERON E. CONDON, Primary Examiner.

1. A THIN-WALL PLASTIC CUP OF INTEGRAL ONE-PIECE CONSTRUCTION AND OF ASIZE ADAPTED TO BE GRASPED AND LIFTED READILY IN ONE HAND, COMPRISING ABOTTOM, AND A SIDEWALL TAPERING UPWARDLY AND OUTWARDLY THEREFROM TO ANOPEN UPPER END WITH A ROLLED OVER RIM, SAID SIDEWALL BEING SUBSTANTIALLYSYMMETRICAL ABOUT THE LONGITUDINAL AXIS OF SAID CUP AND INTEGRALLYJOINED TO SAID BOTTOM AT A BOTTOM EDGE AND HAVING A OP EDGE, SAID CUPBEING PROVIDED WITH A CIRCUMFERENTIALLY EXTENDING ABUTMENT SURFACE ATONE OF ITS EDGES, AND A SERIES OF INTEGRAL PROTUBERANCES ARRANGED INCIRCUMFERENTIAL ARRAY IN THE VICINITY OF SAID ABUTMENT SURFACE, EACH OFSAID PROTUBERANCES BEING IN THE FORM OF A PAIR OF CONVERGING, OPPOSITELYDISDPOSED, AND CIRCUMFERENTIALLY SPACED THIN WALL SECTIONS FORMED FROMTHE CUP SIDEWEALL, EACH OF SAID WALL SECTIONS BEING ANGULARLY DISPOSEDIN RESPECT TO THE CUP SIDEWALL AND WITH THE CIRCUMFERENTIAL EXTERMITIESOF EACH OF SAID THIN WALL SECTIONS BEING JOINED BY END WALL SECTIONSFORMED FROM THE CUP SIDEWALL, THE CONVERGENCE OF SAID SECTIONSPRESENTING A VSHAPED CONFIGURATION TERMINATING IN A RELATIVELY DISCRETEAPEX PROJECTING RADIALLY FROM SAID SIDEWALL AND ALL OF SAID APICES BEINGLOCATED IN CIRCUMFERENTIAL ARRAY SUBSTANTIALLY WITHIN A COMMON PLANEPERPENDICULAR TO THE LONGITUDINAL AXIS OF THE CUP, THE UPPER AND LOWERBOUNDING SURFACES OF SAID PROTUBERANCES DIVERGING FROM SAID COMMONPLANE, THE SAID ABUTMENT SURFACE OF THE CUP AND SAID DIVERGINGPROTUBERANCES SURFACES OF THE CUP BEING RADIALLY OVERLAPPING WHEREBY THEABUTMENT SURFACE OF ONE CUP CAMMINGLY ENGAGES THE ADJACENT BOUNDINGSURFACE OF EACH PROTUBERANCE OF A LIKE ADJACENT CUP TELESCOPEDTHEREWITH, THE CAMMING ENGAGEMENT AND THE INHERENT RESELIENCY OF THE CUPMATERIAL PROVIDING A RESILIENT RESISTANCE TO PREVENT JAMMING TOGETHER OFTELESCOPED CUPS AND PROVIDING AXIAL RESILIENCE TO A STACK OF TELESCOPEDCUPS.